Tuesday, 28 June 2016

Recent events have been calling me back to this long-abandoned blog. I have returned to comment on the demise on the formerly Great Britain.
I have been living in this wonderful, mad country for almost 10 years, and have always felt more at home than I ever did in Germany. For me, the rejection of the European Union and its principles is a devastating loss and I have spent the last six days torn between grief, rage and numb disbelief.

As we speak expert's predictions of the immediate aftermath of the Brexit Vote have come true...

The pound is down, international banks are leaving the country like rats the sinking ship, the UK is on the verge of breaking up. Congratulation's 52% of Thursday's voters you've set your country up for years of recession, instability and isolation from the continent. Or to say it in the words of the Leave Campaign:

So what now Britain? With the government infighting and the Blairites of the PLP staging a self-serving coup, my hope is for David Cameron to step in front of the press and say something along the lines of:

Look guys, this was never supposed to happen. This was a PR gag that backfired badly. I will, of course, not allow a bunch of racists, sympathisers of racism and people happy to vote alongside racists to endanger people's jobs.Brexit is off, we're staying - though I have been informed we are now expected to pay our full membership fee. Enjoy the summer. What is more likely to happen is that a Norwegian style deal will be struck which Prime Minister Calm-Down-Boris will sell to us as a massive victory, while nothing changes apart from paying more money to a single market Britain now won't have any control over.

The power balance has already shifted in the EU. What strikes me in conversations with Brits including leavers is that they tend to over-estimate the bargaining power Britain would have after the Referendum. I even suspect that some Leave votes were due to the illusion that a Brexit vote would force the EU to make even more concessions.

We, Brits and EU immigrants, are now at the mercy of our respective diplomats to strike a deal to protect the interests of the British and European people.